Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
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Migration Watch UK – not much think, mostly tank
Migration Watch UK is a shabby pressure group masquerading as a think tank. The group’s neutral-sounding name masks its real concern with immigration. The group’s founder, Sir Andrew Green –…
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3G auctions revisionism
Paul Klemperer, auction guru and advisor to the Government on the 3G bids, mounts a point-by-point defence of the much criticised 3G spectrum auctions: In retrospect, of course, the licences…
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Am I intruding?
My extensive research (I scrolled all the way down) reveals that Carl Steadman’s proto-blog Tilde Carl was five years old last week. Five years. No archive. One very long page…
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A new library of Alexandria
In the future, there will be statues of Brewster Kahle. I never cease to be humbled by his ambition. Technologists have promised the digital library for decades. In 1945, Vannevar…
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I’m just going to say it…
It’s fashionable – compulsory in some circles – to knock Big Brother. In fact, the show is one of the small handful of genuinely indigenous forms thrown up by television.…
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Anti brand campaigners need context
UPDATE. Just read this post, in October 2022, and I’m kind of shocked. I so profoundly disagree with this post that it’s quite difficult to acknowledge that I even wrote…
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Liberal email
Is this how you take the pulse of liberal America? From technoculture I learn that the NY Times publishes a daily list of the ‘most emailed’ articles from its online…
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NHS Obscure
Is this Britain’s worst web site? No. That would be an exaggeration. NHS Direct Online could be Britain’s least useful web site, though. Trying to find out what the normal…
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Previewing books
The thing with book reviews is you’re supposed to wait until you’ve finished reading the book before you review it but anyway – the latest big book to land here…
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A blogging injury
I’ve got some kind of RSI – pressure on a nerve in my neck makes my left arm numb (I’ve pretty much ruled out a stroke). My neck hurts and…
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Freedom of the road
This German charity is teaching Afghan women to drive. What a breathtakingly practical way of helping a downtrodden group get going after decades of oppression. According to The Economist they…